The word comes from Arabic, used in the title of a mathematical text called "Hisab al-jabr w'al muqabala" sometimes translated as "Restoring and Simplification". Interestingly, the author was a famous mathematician called Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi (780-850) and our word "algorithm" is derived from his name (obviously people back then were just as bad at pronouncing foreign names!).
The concept of elementary algebra has been around for thousands of years, for instance the Babylonians solved problems using algebra. However, the symbolic notation we use like y=ax+c only appeared in the 16th century. Prior to this, most problems had been expressed geometrically or written in full in words. Al-Khowarizmi is credited with introducing the Hindu-Arabic numerals to Europe but according to The Story of Mathematics, he actually wrote out his numbers in full.
The Story of Mathematics has a table that lists the + and - signs being introduced in 1489, when a text was published by Johan Widmann in Germany. The equals sign as we know it was introduced by Robert Recorde in 1557. Imagine doing algebra or even simple maths before then - the incredible thing is that a great deal of fabulous maths was done well before then!
Of course, Arabic mathematics had to be introduced into Europe before it could be used by all the mathematicians we are probably more familiar with, such as Euclid and Gauss. Language was a problem because most European mathematicians couldn't read their texts. During the 12th century many Greek and Arab works were translated into Latin, which allowed the great ideas from the Arab world to be used in Europe.
The history of algebra in a nutshell
The word comes from Arabic, used in the title of a mathematical text called "Hisab al-jabr w'al muqabala" sometimes translated as "Restoring and Simplification". Interestingly, the author was a famous mathematician called Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khowarizmi (780-850) and our word "algorithm" is derived from his name (obviously people back then were just as bad at pronouncing foreign names!).
The concept of elementary algebra has been around for thousands of years, for instance the Babylonians solved problems using algebra. However, the symbolic notation we use like y=ax+c only appeared in the 16th century. Prior to this, most problems had been expressed geometrically or written in full in words. Al-Khowarizmi is credited with introducing the Hindu-Arabic numerals to Europe but according to The Story of Mathematics, he actually wrote out his numbers in full.
The Story of Mathematics has a table that lists the + and - signs being introduced in 1489, when a text was published by Johan Widmann in Germany. The equals sign as we know it was introduced by Robert Recorde in 1557. Imagine doing algebra or even simple maths before then - the incredible thing is that a great deal of fabulous maths was done well before then!
Of course, Arabic mathematics had to be introduced into Europe before it could be used by all the mathematicians we are probably more familiar with, such as Euclid and Gauss. Language was a problem because most European mathematicians couldn't read their texts. During the 12th century many Greek and Arab works were translated into Latin, which allowed the great ideas from the Arab world to be used in Europe.
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